My journey as a West Coast transplant, living and learning in the South, on my ongoing quest to prove that a smart scientist can still maintain a little bit of style.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Kitchen Story

So this one isn't quite as nice yet as the beautiful wood floors, but it is a charming tale of the dedication we are putting into really restoring this home, instead of just topical, "quick fixes." We are the real deal. Enjoy...

This is the cute, 1950's kitchen, we bought. Not too bad, right?

Then I get to investigating with "my bar" and the story changes quickly. I am about to discover the house's USSR designed water heater. Not a pretty picture.

And then, crash, bang, boom... a few hours later the kitchen looks like this. We discover the sub-floor needed to be replaced under the sink, but did manage to salvage the cabinets. I thought the destruction was over.

However, while I am locked away in various rooms doing battle with the sanding machine beast, Steph and Trent realize that the electrical outlets are not going to be to code in our new design, so off with the sheet rock.

I stumble out hours later to find my kitchen like this...

So it looks bad, I understand. But really we aren't in that bad of shape. We have the new subfloor in, have bought new cabinets and "new to us" fancy appliances. The electrical is designed and awaiting permit approval and electrician inspection and then we can slap on some new dry wall and start installing away. We've decided to change the layout a bit, and will be moving a doorway, but we figured we might as well make it look great since we have the motivation (I almost said time, but.. that is debatable). We'll get it done. And it will look something like this.

These are Trent's sketches he emailed to me one day I was feeling particularly nervous about the renovations. We scored some great granite counter tops off of Craigslist, as well as fancy-dancy oven and dishwasher. We've decided to renovated the vintage Hotpoint fridge, as it just is SO cool, but I will wait to unveil that beauty when it is all done. Here is my kitchen sink I fell in love with and have been meticulously renovating, isn't it awesome?

Can't wait to show you how it all comes together! It will truly be a labor of love and dedication.